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Sunday, 23 September 2007

I probably do not know much about football, I was quite feeble-boned even though I grew out of my size as a kid, that I skipped with the girls than I played with the boys.

It might be too early to gloat, but football does have a strange mindset to its management and play, it is not like boxing where flair is scored by points and knockdowns might count for nothing if the opponent is not knocked out.

The word is, Mourinho accepted a parting from Chelsea on mutual terms not because his team was not winning, but his game plans were not entertaining; meaning the stadiums were not full of spectators and all that results from having big followings, he would be laughing all the way to the bank with 8 figures in pounds.

His replacement in Avram Grant might have achieved much in Israel, if the Toto Cup - a minor Israeli cup competition he has won 6 times is a football big deal; but since when was Israel a footballing nation? Don’t get me wrong, people can be plucked from obscurity and they become stars; time will tell if Mr. Grant can really fill José Mourinho’s shoes.

For now, I think he has stepped into skis and he is about to go mountain-climbing, he is complete out of his league for all I care. He might however not hold the post for more than 12 weeks if he does not get a UEFA Pro license soon or the Football Association might grant a special dispensation to allow him run the club till the end of the season.

Entertaining losers?

The whipping of Chelsea by Manchester United tonight did not come as a surprise, as they acquired both an outright red card and a dying minute penalty, there would be great disarray before things pan out, but do not except miracles before the friendship between Roman and Avram leads to a serious exchange of views.

As for entertaining football, the basic law is that teams win matches through scoring goals, and then if their game plan includes skill, flair and panache, so be it. Chelsea could have retained Mourinho and simply gotten the players to paint their faces and wear tutus on the field, the goalie can be in drag, whilst those on the benches skipped and pirouetted every few minutes, probably blowing up a few animal balloons.

They would have been funny, maybe entertaining and more kids might have had their parents buy tickets to see the matches just because of the show, winning is paramount, flair is a bonus and some teams are not cut out for being entertaining apart from putting 11 clowns on the pitch.